And now, the end is near. We traveled each and every highway… Not literally, but figuratively, and we did it our way! Wow. We had a great and a not so great trip. Life is the same, right? Some parts are great, and others… well they aren’t so great. TJ and I tried to only complain to one another. We figured no one needed to worry about us while we were far away. No one was available to help us, so the trip was about how he and I worked together, our faith in God, and our attitudes. Right?
We started off Monday, July 21. Our attitudes were light and fluffy like the clouds on the horizon. Driving up the I17 highway from Phoenix to Flagstaff, to connect with I40, was our route. Everything was great! The first leg was from home to Grants, NM, were there’s a small travel-through KOA. This place is less for long stays than for overnights. The park is clean. There’s a cool walking trail at the back. The trail goes through old lava flows caused by El Malpais. There are cool signs along the path.
The signs told us all about the volcano that exploded there a long time ago. If you know much about me, then you know I love volcanoes. I love the dumb movies, I love to see them go off on the news; I think because when I was a kiddo, around 11 years old, my/our dad and mom took us to Sunset Crater, up by Flagstaff. At that time, you were allowed to climb the crater. Now you can’t. Erosion caused by people traipsing up the side of the thing was destroying the trek. But when I got to the top of the volcano, I was mesmerized by the whole experience. That’s another blog, though.
That night, the monsoons struck. I love the monsoons, but apparently our trailer does not. The ceiling over the bed leaked. Yeah. But we had reservations in Michigan. We determined not to let a little water mess up our vacation, so when we got up the next morning, we went east (young man). The farther east we went, the worse the storms were. Now please understand, when we went to Washington last summer, we were rained upon, and really hard, too. The roof didn’t leak at all that trip.
By Wednesday, we made the Tulsa area where we met up with one of my cousins, Michael Attalla and his lovely wife, Sue! We were only there for about two hours, as we had to make it to Michigan by Thursday for our reservations. While we were there, Michael and I, who haven’t seen one another for probably 50 years, were able to connect. The time for the visit was too short, but it was special. I appreciate getting to meet Sue for the first time.
After that, we high-tailed it for Coloma, Michigan. That’s where our destination took us to the KOA park where we would spend four nights. What a great park! There were trees, grass, a playground, walking paths, flowers galore! And yes, a hammock for my tired driver:
We could relax here. We could walk a lot with Ruby Sue. The canopy of trees protected the trailer from some of the inclement weather. On Saturday, we went to the Boyer Family Reunion. We had a great time reacquainting TJ with his family. I’ve posted a lot of photos on FB. I know some of you aren’t out there, so I will put a few photos here. I was able to align photos in a way that makes sense. That makes me happy. I’m a little OCD. Lining up photos fills my heart with joy.
This is TJ in the maroon shirt, and his brother, Howard, in the blue shirt. The top middle photo shows you how many people were there.
TJ & Howard 
Cousins, Don & Pete. 
Howard’s boys, Ricky & John 
We added Katrenia, here, and Kay Dee is peeking from behind. 
Dakota, in the lower right corner, is wearing the reunion shirt that his brother, Jagger designed. We got shirts, too, but we didn’t put them on. Now they are in the closet. They are nicely done, though. Maybe TJ and I will do a selfie with us wearing them, later.
TJ and I drove around the area. He’s from Kalamazoo, originally. We found this cool sign. When someone says “here’s your sign” to him, they’re right!
We left Michigan on Monday. Leaving was bittersweet. But we knew we had more adventures ahead. I am going to leave you with this much blog, today. In a day or so, I will write part two. We are recuperating from driving so far. And there are four more days to talk about. Remember something, though. God saw us through. Even in rain, thunder, and discomfort. He’s always faithful. People aren’t so faithful. Coming up in a day or so… (I said that) you will see how whiny I can be.
Philippians 2:14-15 ESV Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Mirror Gate Chronicles 